This Chapter includes:

Long Time No See: Jiraiya Returns!

The Summoning Jutsu: Wisdom of the Toad Sage!

A Feeling of Yearning, A Flower Full of Hope

A scream left my mouth, my whole body shaking in agony, but the pain focusing in my right hand.

"STOP, PLEASE STOP!" I screamed, tears falling down my face. The restraints holding me down dug into my skin as I thrashed about, my hair flying around with my head.

"She's getting loose!" Kabuto shouted, coming close and pulling the restraints tighter. The burning I felt grew worse, my body aching. I thrashed around harder and harder, trying to kick out of my restraints and wanting to just cut off my hand, just to end the pain. "Help me hold her down! Quickly!" More of Orochimaru's subordinates ran over, holding me down by my shoulders, legs, and arms.

My throat was sore from screaming, but I didn't stop. No, I got louder. I leaned my head back against the table, letting out one more scream. This one echoed throughout the empty hideout, no one coming to help me.

I sat up in bed screaming and backing up against my pillow, kicking my blanket off of me. I felt my body shaking in fear, my hair falling all around my face, strands blocking me from the rest of the world.

Without even realizing the feeling was there, a sob escaped my lips, my hands pressing against my forehead.

It was just a dream. All it is, just a dream. No...a nightmare.

It didn't matter what it was. All I knew is I didn't want to remember. I couldn't contain it anymore though. Sobs then wracked my body as I squeezed my temples, trying to block out the memory. I looked up quickly then, seeing someone standing in front of my bed. I quickly leaned over to my bedside table, grabbing a kunai I kept there when a hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me. My head snapped towards the person who stopped me.

"K-Kakashi..?" My voice cracked. I dropped the kunai, hearing it clatter to the floor, and quickly wiped my tears away as best as I could with my arms. "W-What are you doing here?" I asked, waving my hand over my head, moving my messy hair out of my face. His one eye looked at me solemnly before sitting down at the edge of my bed.

"Some of your neighbors heard screaming, and reported it to passing Shinobi. They gathered a bunch of us to come see what was going on." I looked at him in surprise, and then looked past him, out the door to see Iruka, Guy, and Kotetsu in the living room. I didn't even sense anybody there! That nightmare shook me so much, I was way off.

Even with Kakashi in here, I didn't even notice he was here till I saw him. I'm such an idiot!

"I-I'm sorry-" I swung my legs off the edge of the bed, standing up and walking out to the living room. "I'm so sorry everyone." I spoke, tears still filling my eyes. Iruka looked at me softly, as did Guy, while Kotetsu looked kind of annoyed.

"It's okay." Kakashi replied, stepping out and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you guys go, and I'll stay for a little longer." He suggested.

"No arguments there." Kotetsu replied, annoyance still in his voice, before suddenly taking off. I looked down, feeling ashamed, when another hand was placed on my other shoulder. I looked up to see Iruka kneeling in front of me, a soft smile on his face.

"Sleep well, Tessa." I gave him a weak smile and nodded, letting some hair fall back down in my face and hide it. Guy said nothing, but I sensed him go, leaving Kakashi and I standing in the living room.

"Come on." Kakashi gently led me back to bed, before sitting me down. He leaned against the wall next to me, giving me some space. "What happened?" He asked softly.

"Nothing." I replied, avoiding his gaze. "Just a stupid dream." Kakashi let out a sigh and then knelt down in front of me, placing a gloved hand on my knee.

"You wouldn't be screaming over nothing. You can trust me, Tessa. I'm your teacher. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." My eyes started filling with tears even more, until spilling over and falling down my cheeks.

"Why do you even care?!" I snapped. Kakashi pulled his hand back in surprise at my outburst. "You don't even know me, why do you even give a shit? I don't even belong here!" My voice cracked. I looked down, my hands curling into fists against my legs. Tears dripped from my cheeks down onto my legs. "No one gives a shit about me, no matter what I do. Nobody!" Kakashi said nothing. "I can't even do anything right! No wonder my parents didn't even want me. Nobody would want a useless idiot like me!" My voice started to crack. "S-So...why can't I just accept that?" My body shook as I sobbed, my hair covering my face.

It took a moment, before Kakashi spoke.

"You're wrong." I looked back up at him in confusion. "Yeah, maybe I don't know you. Hell, I've known you just as long as I've known Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. But so what?" He narrowed his eye at me. "You are all my students. And I will protect all of you. That's something I won't ever stray from." He put his hand back on my knee. "Maybe you didn't grow up here. But just from your attitude and hard work, you belong here." He looked up, his hand on his chin now. "As for people who care about you, I think it's safe to say that Team 7 care about you. Including me." I could see the lines of his mouth move under his mask, probably in a smile. I didn't smile back, wiping the tears off of my face.

"You don't understand, Kakashi-sensei.." I pulled my long red hair around to my right, mindlessly playing with it out of nervousness. "I don't deserve to be here. I've done things...not good things...and I've made some bad choices. I don't deserve to be here with all these good people.." Kakashi moved, sitting on my bed next to me, turning to look at me.

"Why not?" He asked curiously. I looked away from him, still playing with my hair.

"I...I-I.." I hesitated. If I told him, would he tell the Hokage? Would they throw me out of the village? What would happen to the rest of the team..?"

"Tessa.." Kakashi spoke, bringing me out of my thoughts. "I won't betray your trust. Just as I wouldn't betray Naruto's, Sakura's, or Sasuke's. You have my word." He added seriously. I closed my eyes, a stray tear betraying me and falling down my cheek, before nodding, turning back to him.

"Okay. Okay, I'll tell you."

I sat on my couch, my legs bent up to my chest, and a warm cup of hot chocolate in my hand. I set it down for a moment, leaning forward and tying my hair up into a messy bun, before sitting back the way I was. I gave Kakashi a cup as well, hoping to maybe get a peek under his mask, but he set it down on the coffee table, leaning back in the other chair.

"Ever since I was young, I was with...him." I started, avoiding Kakashi's gaze.

"Orochimaru." He spoke for me. I felt myself shiver, but ignored it and nodded, looking away.

"It was never fun, I could tell you that." I sipped at my hot chocolate. "He did...awful experiments on people." I squeezed my eyes shut, hearing the echos of screams in my head. "He made me help him and his other subordinates hold people down to experiment on them."

"I hate to ask more of you, but.." Kakashi trailed off, looking up for a moment. "who conducted these experiments?" He looked back at me.

"A medical ninja, one of his most trusted-"

"Kabuto." Kakashi finished for me. I looked at him with wide eyes.

"H-How did you know that?" Kakashi looked at me with a troubled eye.

"Kabuto tried to kill Sasuke after the preliminary rounds were over. I caught him in the hospital just in time." I sat forward, touching my feet to the floor.

"No way." I took another drink before setting it down, resting my head in my hands. "That's weird. Orochimaru wanted Sasuke, there's no way he'd order Kabuto to kill him. He must of tried on his own." Kakashi nodded, closing his eye.

"He got away, but I have the village shinobi on alert about him." I nodded gratefully and took another drink from my cup, when he spoke again. "Since you're telling me things, I'd like to ask...what happened to your hand?" He asked softly, as if he were nervous I would get upset at him. I took a moment of silence, before setting my cup down and turning on the couch to face towards him.

"This...is another one of Orochimaru's experiments." I held up my hand, showing the burns in the moonlight. I scooted closer towards him so he could get a better look. He looked at it curiously before holding up a hand.

"May I?" I nodded, and he gently took my hand in his, turning it and running a thumb over some of the burns. "It...feels like a tattoo almost." He said softly. "But...it looks like a burn." I nodded, continuing to let him examine my hand.

"I remember the day it happened too. He told me he had a surprise for me. Before I knew it, I was knocked out and on the operating table. When I woke up, they injected me in this hand with some kind of syringe filled with black oily looking liquid. It hurt. I've never felt a pain like that in my life." I whispered.

Kakashi let go of my hand, allowing me to drop it into my lap.

"Something was happening to me. They had to hold me down because I was breaking the restraints, and my hand felt like it was on fire. I begged them to make it stop, to let me go, but...it was too late." I ran my left fingers over my right hand. "Once it was injected, they couldn't do anything to stop it. When it was over, he just threw me back into an empty room, like he was angry nothing happened."

"But something did happen...didn't it?" Kakashi suggested warily. I looked at him, before raising my right hand towards my bookshelf in my living room. Lightly concentrating, I felt my magic come forward, and I used it to pull my favorite book off my shelf, flying it into my hand and catching it. Kakashi's eye widened, too stunned to say anything.

"I can do more too, like, make shields to protect from attacks, send shards as attacks.." I trailed off, rubbing my left arm. Kakashi nodded understanding, but then stopped.

"So then...why don't you use it more?" I bit my lip, looking up at him.

"Did...did the others tell you what happened in The Forest of Death?" Kakashi furrowed his eyebrow.

"A little. Just about the attack of Orochimaru." I gulped.

"Well...we were also attacked by the sound ninja. Everyone showed up to protect us, but...well, we were all not doing so great. I finally decided that I had to use this power to protect us. But, when I started using it, this...bloodlust came over me. I didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late. Lee snapped me out of it, but...it's dangerous Kakashi. I could easily kill people with it, but it takes over me, like some sort of poison.." Kakashi nodded, understandingly.

"Is there any cure?" He asked, genuinely. I shook my head.

"Not that I know of. I've searched, I've tried remembering the research for the experiment, but...nothing so far."

"Does...does Orochimaru have this power?" I shook my head confidently.

"No. He thought he had to perfect it, give him something better without the bloodlust. While the bloodlust could kill so many people, he wants to be in control of it."

"Of course." Kakashi replied sarcastically.

"Before I was found and came here, I destroyed everything I could of the research and of the experiment, to make sure he couldn't get his hands on it. I wasn't gonna let him and Kabuto use it. Ever." Kakashi looked at me, almost gratefully I guess, but said nothing for a moment.

"How did you get away? Get to the Leaf Village?" I rubbed my eyes, starting to feel the tiredness invade my body.

"I caused a distraction. Got out of my room, unlocked others with my power, with a little practice of course, and let out all of his other test subjects. They had their hands full with all of them, and after I got out...it was beautiful." I stopped, smiling sadly. "I hadn't been outside much before then. But when I got outside...I was so happy." I looked up at Kakashi. "It was so beautiful outside. But I ran as fast as I could, as far as I could, leading me not too far from the village. Some ninja were coming back, and saw me sleeping in the forest. Of course, they thought, what was a 9 year old doing in the forest by herself, looking all injured, and dirty. They brought me back to the village, me being terrified of course, but...alive." My smile got happier.

"I'm forever grateful to them. It was a team that Asuma was leading, actually. I don't remember who the others were though." Kakashi nodded, not saying anything for a moment.

"Thank you for telling me these things." Kakashi finally spoke. I nodded with a smile, before my smile dropped, looking at his cup. It was empty!

"W-What the-?" I looked between the cup and his face. I leaned over to look at the floor. "You better not have dumped that on my floor!" I said warningly. Kakashi chuckled, shaking his head.

"No, I drank it." I looked back up to his face.

"But-How did you-when did you-" I stumbled over my words. He gave a two finger salute.

"I have my ways." My eyebrow started twitching, but before I could say anything else, Kakashi stood up, patting the top of my head. "It's late. Get some sleep." He added, walking towards the door.

"Yes, sensei.." I grumbled.

I heard his voice yelling, as he fell through the water once again. I know it had only been a day, but Naruto really needed to get the hang of this.

A familiar laugh burst out as I got closer. "You really do need help, don't you?" I peeked through the bush between me and the voice, seeing Naruto soaking wet.

"I should know by now to take my clothes off first!" He yelled, pulling off his jacket, pants and shoes. I furrowed my eyebrows as Naruto stepped forward, only in a pair of boxers and his headband.

"Finally going for a swim, Naruto?" I joked, walking out of the bush. Pervy sage jumped at my voice, as did Naruto. I giggled and gave a salute to Naruto, a smirk on my face. "Care if I join?"

"Tessa!" Naruto grinned. "Where have you been?" I shrugged, dropping my hand to my side.

"Around." I sat down, taking my boots off my feet. I stepped back behind Jiraiya, turning around and pulling my shirt over my head, revealing a strapless bra underneath. Taking off my shorts, I was in a pair of underwear. I pulled most of my hair up in a ponytail, leaving thick strands on either side of my face. I pulled off my glove on my right hand as well, tossing it in the pile of clothes before turning around and freezing.

Naruto and Pervy Sage stood frozen, staring at me with their faces burning red. My eyes flickered between the two, my face turning red as well.

"W-What? Why are you guys staring at me?" I asked nervously, crossing my arms over my chest. Neither of them said anything, still staring. Pervy Sage started having drool drip from his mouth, making me mad. I closed my eyes, growling, and focused chakra into my right hand. "STOP STARING AT ME!" I slammed my fist into Pervy Sage's face, his body sliding across the ground into a boulder. The boulder gave a loud heave in protest as the Sage's body slammed into it, him groaning.

"Hahahaha, that's what you get Pervy Sage!" Naruto laughed, clutching his stomach and pointing at him. I growled, stalking closer to him. He stopped laughing, backing up to the edge of the creek.

"You were staring too, Naruto!"

"W-Wait, wait-" He waved his hands innocently in front of him.

"Alright, alright!" Pervy Sage shouted, rubbing his face and walking back over. "That's enough!" He groaned as he knelt back down where he was. "She's got a punch like Tsunade with chakra like that.." He mumbled.

"Who?" I asked, my hands on my hips. He shook his head.

"Nothing." He looked back at Naruto. "Go on and build your chakra one more time." Naruto turned to him.

"Can't I dry off a little first?" He asked, annoyed. I walked out onto the water with my chakra, pretending to balance.

"Why? You're probably just gonna fall right back in Naruto, what's the point?" I got silence in return making me glance back at Naruto only to see him glaring at me. "Well? I'm just saying!" I added, my voice going slightly higher. Naruto just turned towards the water and closed his eyes, making a handsign. I could feel him focusing his chakra, trying to get it to his feet.

Meanwhile I decided to jump and halt my use of chakra, jumping into the water with a laugh. I laid on the top of the water, floating as my long red hair spread out around me.

"Sh!" Pervy Sage silenced me with narrowed eyes. I rolled my eyes, floating along the creek.

"Yes, grandpa." I grumbled, huffing. I turned my head to look at Naruto as he concentrated.

"Mmmm...Wha-? Amazing!" Pervy Sage leaned towards Naruto, breaking his concentration.

"What?" He looked over.

"You know, you have quite a tight sexy little body." I deadpanned, falling into the water. I stood up, my hair soaking around my face.

"Maybe you should stop concentrating on our bodies, and start concentrating on what he's doing before I hit you into next week this time." I growl, a vein popping out of my head. He winced, probably remembering how I hit him the first time.

"Do you guys mind, I'm trying to concentrate here!" Naruto yelled, his hands balled into fists.

"TELL THIS IDIOT, HE'S THE ONE BEING CREEPY!" I shouted, pointing at the Sage. Naruto ignored the both of us, concentrating his chakra once again. My eyes widened at once as Pervy Sage made a noise, clearly noticing the same thing as me.

I waded in the water over to Naruto, coming to the edge of the creek and resting my head in my hands, getting a closer look at his stomach.

What is that? I asked myself, staring at it.

The seal..The familiar voice said.

Huh? I asked, ignoring his sudden appearance.

The seal containing the nine tailed fox.

Ohhhhh... I stopped, looking down at my stomach. Do I have one of those?

What do you think this stupid paper on my cage is, idiot girl?! His voice screamed, making me close one eye, wincing.

Okay, okay, geez.

The old man stood up and walked in front of Naruto, kneeling down. He was blocking my view, making me growl and hop up out of the water, walking next to the Sage and kneeling with him, examining Naruto's stomach.

As we were staring, a second seal appeared around the first one, making me take a sharp breath. Wait! Isn't that..

I sat up and watch the ninja's tongue go down and wrap around Naruto, picking him up. "Hey! Oh man, disgusting! Put me down before I yank this tongue out of your head!" He struggled. I jumped over and started running to help him.

"Put him down! Don't hurt him!" I warned. She made some kind of handsign and smiled.

"I see...when your anger is roused, some of the nine tailed fox's chakra is released. What an interesting childhood you must of had." She used her tongue to lift up Naruto's shirt and jacket.

"I mean it!" I screamed, and landed next to him. He smirked and slammed his fingers into Naruto's stomach. I gasped and saw some sort of seal on his stomach as he screamed.

Orochimaru. I glowered. I watched as Pervy sage put his hand on Naruto's stomach, pushing on it and examining the seal. Suddenly, Naruto's body started shaking, followed by his giggling. I looked up with a small smile to see him with a smile spread on his face, his hands still in a handsign. Finally he openly laughed.

"Cut it out! What are you doing, that tickles!"

"Oh, sorry about that." Pervy sage looked up at Naruto before standing up. I stood up and glanced over at him to see him flexing his fingers. I furrowed my eyebrows though as I felt him gathering chakra. What is he doing?

He popped his knuckles, putting his right hand behind his back as I eyed him suspiciously.

"Okay, raise your arms up high over your head."

"Huh?" Naruto looked up at him.

"It's a trust exercise. Come on, raise em high!" He raised his left arm.

"Naruto.." I warned. Pervy Sage gave me a look, before turning back to Naruto whose arms were above his head. Without warning, The Sage leaned forward, slamming his fingers into Naruto's stomach.

"Five Pronged Seal: Release!" I heard him yell. Naruto was flung backwards into the ground, the seal Orochimaru applied disappearing. Soon after, Naruto's normal seal vanished as well.

"Whoa." I only said, watching. Naruto coughed, clutching his stomach and leaning over.

"What the heck was that for?" I walked over, giving Naruto my hand and helping him up.

"Whaaaaaat? Just pushing a pressure point to loosen you up." He only said, a smile on his face.

He's not gonna tell Naruto? I raised an eyebrow. I guess it wouldn't matter if he did, Naruto wouldn't really know what it meant I guess, but still...

"Now, go on, try walking on the water again." He pointed to the creek. Naruto winced as he walked over, still clutching his stomach. He slowly put his foot on the water, yelling in preparation to fall, but never falling.

"Whoa, that's weird." He walked on the water with two feet normally. I knew he could do it! It was just something stupid that was affecting him. He started hopping back and forth between feet, a laugh escaping. "Look at that, I'm doing it! Just don't ask me how!" He started jumping in excitement at his accomplishment.

I giggled, elbowing Pervy Sage in the ribs.

"Not bad, Pervy Sage. Not bad at all." He looked down at me and grinned. "You're not gonna tell him though?" I asked, looking up at him curiously. He shook his head.

"What's the point? He's not gonna really get it, and it's not like it's gonna change anything." I nodded, looking back at a celebrating Naruto.

"That kid's going somewhere." I smirked, crossing my arms and looking back up at him. Pervy Sage looked at me curiously, slight confusion on his face. "What?" He shook his head, but I saw his eyes lingering on the burns on my right hand. I hid my hand behind my back, ignoring his questioning look.

"Hey Sakura!" I shouted out the door of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She stopped and turned, looking at me in surprise.

"Tessa? What are you doing in there?" She walked over slowly.

"I'm getting flowers for Lee and Sasuke." I smiled sadly. She stopped and looked at me with some sadness, but then nodded.

"Can I join you?" She asked. I nodded as well, her walking inside the flower shop behind me.

"I was looking at these." I smiled, taking her hand and bringing her to the Tiger Lilies. Sakura smiled at this, when she turned her head and her smile dropped.

"Oh Sakura, poor thing, it's sad when a girl has to buy flowers for herself." Ino spoke in a snarky tone. Oooohhhh I want to punch that girl so bad.

"Wow, I didn't know you liked to talk about yourself in third person Ino." I glowered. "I mean, you work in a flower shop, you have all the time in the world for it." Ino glared at me. You could almost see lightning between the two of us. Sakura put a hand on my shoulder.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I didn't expect you to be minding the shop." Sakura yanked me away from the direction of Ino. I ignored the blond Kunoichi and knelt down to the Tiger Lilies, grabbing two. I ignored whatever Ino was saying to Sakura as I examined the bright orange and red flowers. I don't really know what different flower types mean, and I don't really care. I just like these because they're pretty, and I hope Sasuke and Lee would like them too.

"I should get two." I hear Sakura say as I walked back over to him.

"Two, why? You trying to impress him?" Ino criticized. Sakura turned to look at her.

"One for him, and another for Lee." Ino's face dropped at the statement, the tone now getting serious.

"Sakura?" Ino's voice softened. "Tessa...speaking of Lee, you heard the news about him, didn't you?" I looked down, biting my cheek and trying not to say anything.

"Huh? What news is that? Sakura asked, a smile on her face.

"His injuries were bad. REALLY bad. It means that he'll never...well...his days as a ninja...are over."

The walk to the hospital was quiet, mainly because for some reason Ino decided to join us, which I was obviously thrilled about. We stopped at a familiar voice coming from the Barbecue restaurant.

"Waiter, more! Ten orders of short ribs!" I looked at the girls before walking closer to the window that the sound was coming from. "These are alllll mine Shikamaru! Don't try stealing any!" Choji laughed.

"Don't worry, not planning on it."

"Hey guys!" I shouted with a grin on my face, my head leaning on my hand, elbow on the window sill. Shikamaru jumped at my voice, nearly falling out of his seat, while Choji dropped a short rib. It was dead silent for a moment, before Choji screamed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tears fell down his face at the fallen short rib. Shikamaru grew a vein in his head.

"Would you shut up?! You're such a drag." He said annoyed. I giggled and waved at Asuma.

"Hi Asuma sensei!" I greeted with a grin. He smiled at me.

"How are you doing, Tessa?" He nodded.

"Not too bad. We're on our way to take some flowers to the hospital." I said softly, ignoring Choji's sniffles. Shikamaru looked behind me to see the other girls.

"Shikamaru, shouldn't you be training for the final exam instead of sitting around pigging out?" Ino asked.

"I have been training. Every day, all day. Asuma's a goddamn slave driver." Asuma laughed at this, looking at us.

"And its not only Shikamaru, Choji's joined us for training as well." He added.

"Hm." I looked at Choji with a smile. "Awesome." I looked back at Shikamaru with furrowed eyebrows.

"I'm still trying to figure out how the hell I'm gonna beat Dosu and his sound." I added solemnly. "I've only learned some chakra control, but I have no idea how I'm gonna get around it." I sighed. "But, if I finish that fight, maybe I'll get to fight you, Shika." I teased, smirking.

"Oh maaaan." Shikamaru said, putting his arms behind his head and leaning back with this eyes closed. "I wish I never signed up for this stupid exam."

"I don't wanna hear it, there are plenty of people who'd give their right arm to be a part of it." Asuma scolded.

"Yeah, your sensei's right!" Sakura butted in, eyes narrowed.

"And besides, from everything I've heard, Guy and Kurenai's team are training their butts off." Shikamaru looked over at Asuma.

"Yeah? Well what about it?" He asked in a monotone voice.

"After coming this far, you don't want them making you look bad, do you?" Asuma egged him on, a smirk on his face. Shikamaru closed his eyes again, sighing.

"Man, this is such a drag." I rolled my eyes.

"Is there anything to you that's not a drag?" I raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru looked over at me, one eye open, but ignored my question. I giggled, making him look over at me again.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing, nothing." I smirked at him. I saw him look away, though, I could've sworn his face turned the slightest bit of pink. "Anyway, we gotta head out. But thanks for the short rib, Choji!" I yelled, running away with a single grilled short rib in my hand, laughing.

"So you're here to see Sasuke Uchiha?" The nurse leading us asked, me munching on the stolen short rib. "Please keep in mind that he is still very weak, and needs his rest. You'll have to keep your visit short; 5 minutes, that's all I can give you."

"Alright." All three of us answered. The nurse knocked on the door.

"Sasuke? May I come in? You have a few pretty visitors here." She suddenly gasped, dropping her clipboard. I looked past her, only seeing Sasuke's empty bed. "Sasuke? Sasuke!" She rushed over to the wardrobe, opening it. All of his things were gone. "His clothes are gone! This is terrible, he's in no condition to be walking around on his own! Doctor! Doctor!" She ran out of the room shouting.

I looked over at the girls to see Sakura, her face contorted into one of worry.

"Don't worry, Sakura." I moved close to her. "He didn't get him." I whispered in her ear. "Kakashi would tell us." She looked at me still worried, but a small smile on her face, her nodding.

The nurse knocked on the door before speaking. "Lee? Can we come in? You have a few pretty visitors-" She gasped again, yet again dropping her clipboard. "Oh no, not Lee too!" She walked forward. "Lee! Lee!"

"Look!" Sakura pointed out the window. I ran over to it, seeing Lee doing strained pushups on one arm.

"Come on you guys!" Ino shouted. I ignored them, hopping over the balcony and landing on the ground on my knees.

"Lee!" I started running over.

"200 pushups, that was the deal!" Lee strained, holding himself up on one arm. "If you cannot finish them, it is 100 leg squats, so come on! Here we go! 190!" He lowered himself down, gritting his teeth.

"Lee, stop it!" I cried, getting close. "You're supposed to be on bed rest, what are you doing?!"

"191!" He did another. I put a hand on his shoulder, wanting to help him up.

"Lee, stop it!"

"Keep away from me!" He raised his voice at me, making me pull away. I stared at him with sad eyes, his softening. "Please! Got to...finish..my training!" He continued. "Do not count me out...I am not through yet..." He protested, doing more pushups. He struggled to push himself up again. "Just...one more...one more!" He started to yell in pain. "Just one more!" His yelling got more intense until he collapsed onto the ground, his arm no longer able to support him.

"Lee!" I ran over, sliding to my knees. I rolled him over, laying his head on my legs.

"I'll get some orderlies to bring a stretcher out. Stay with him until I get back!" The nurse shouted as she ran. I looked down at Lee, resting my forehead on top of his head.

"Lee...why are you like this...?" I halfheartedly asked, feeling my eyes fill with tears. I brushed some of his hair away from his face, leaving my hand resting on his head.

"Why..?" Sakura suddenly asked. "Why do boys push things too far..?" She looked down.

"I don't know..." Ino replied. "Don't ask me, I'm not a boy..."